Battle Against Nature
by Ceramic Quill
Summary: Loki, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three provoke nature spirits.


Loki walked throughout the corridors of Asgard, distractedly reading a scroll. He had initially wanted to read in the great library, but a giggling couple were occupying the spot he frequented, taking full interest in the glory of each other's faces than the intellectual masterpieces that surrounded them. He wanted to punish them for desecrating his space, so he placed a spell where they could physically not let go of each other, resolving to come back later and break the spell before he got into too much trouble over it.

He soon forgot the matter, being distracted by the scroll.

"Unbreakable magic, my lord!" Loki stopped his sauntering of the halls. Looking up from the collected literature and around him, looking for whom he believed was gossiping and tattling on him. With sharp turn of his heels, he took a few steps back and looked into the throne room where a common farmer stood. "The stones have awakened! I beg thee All-Father, my people need help."

His father, Odin gestured his hand to the villager. "I will send guards to take the matter into control." Signaling to a nearby guard to ready a group of soldiers.

"Thank you, All-Father." Demonstrating a deep bow, the man noticed Loki standing to the side. Presenting a smaller bow in his direction, "Your highness."

Loki closed the scroll he was reading, after being granted permission to enter. He walked up to the All-Father, "What is this matter you speak of?"

"Magic, golems have been created, attacking the farmers and plantations of the far hills."

Loki's interest peaked at the topic. "Perhaps I could be of assistance?" He asked with a glimmer of excitement.

Odin pondered the thought, and agreeing to send him with the villager. Not a moment later, the Great Hall's quiet was interrupted by Thor's barraging voice. Loki's smile faded into a scowl, muttering with irritation from the interruption.

"FATHER! THE GUARDS HAVE TOLD ME THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN ATTACK! I WISH TO FIGHT THEM!" Thor announced, everything other than discreetly. Sif, and the warriors three behind. "I WISH TO BRING MY FRIENDS! We have not fought a good fight in weeks, and have grown bored."

"Your brother has already agreed to travel there, you may go with him." The All-Father signaled to the guards once more to remove the preparation of his soldiers.

Thor looked to the side at the villager, noticing his brother beside him. "Loki? Ah, hello brother, I did not see you."

Holding onto a sarcastic insult from flying loose from the tip of his tongue, he took a step forward, aiming for a more civilized way to kick Thor's party out of his adventure. "I was just planning on going by myself, I really wouldn't advise you all to-"

"WE LEAVE FOR BATTLE NOW!" Thor turned around with his group following, each enthusiastic for the upcoming adventure.

Loki turned toward the farmer, "We'll find the source of the golems. Worry not."

They traveled on horse to the upland and lowlands of rivers, lakes, and hills, as silent witness to the toil of the abandoned homes, farms, fields and plantations. Rich fields of green uninhabited. Lakes secluded. They arrived at the villages, this land contrasting from the nature around them. Several villages laid to waste. Eventually they reached the land where creatures appearing of rock and wood were attacking an occupied village.

Thor and the others jumped off their horses, immediately running into the fight, beginning their attack. Their weapons crushing the rock and burning the wood. The creatures quickly fell under their unremitting force.

Loki's blade ripping one wood creature into pieces._ Don't do this, we only defend ourselves. _

Loki looked down at the dead creature in surprise. But continued to fight, as others approached him. _Stop them. They hurt the land. The Mothers awaken._ Loki stared in confusion, but then he realized, these weren't golems. "Stop killing them! STOP! THESE ARE ONLY THE FLEDGLINGS!"

"What would you have us do then, Loki!?"

"BACK AWAY! Lead them off. THESE ARE ELEMENTAL SPIRITS, not golems! STOP KILLING THEM!"

"They chose to fight! And a fight is what they will get!" Thor smashed the closest ligneous creature, shattering it into many pieces. Many more falling by the swords and hammer. "Disgusting varmints."

The ground below them shook, Loki turned to see the hills convulse, "Hel curse it" a lengthy piece of stone broke off from the hills, it rose into the air towering over the group by a hundred feet. The stone falling back towards them, nearly crushing. Another equally long and large stone shot into the air not too far off, Sif barely dodged the attack. The two towers of stone and floor continued to shake. The towering stone took on the shape of arms as the mountain pushed itself off from the floor, trees and boulders tumbled down off of the now standing figure in front of them.

"See Thor. This is why you don't kill their babies. Great." The enchanter took a few steps back.

"Thank you for telling me before hand, idiot."

"Pleasure." Loki turned to the creature "We are are sorry for crossing your territory! We will back away… slowly. Yes, we will not fight. We mean no harm... Sif get the village to evacuate if they are not yet running." Lady Sif ran off to the village as Loki chanted runes and spell to calm down nature spirit.

The mountain colossus rotated until its body faced them. It had no intent to back down from the instigated fight, it was far too irate to be subdued by this sorcerer. Its legs rose, and began to fall back down to crush the attackers. The group ran as fast as their legs would carry them. Stone shook and flew in every direction. Newly created dust obscured their vision. Slowly one by one they began to fall hidden amid the rubble. The attack continued, but the dust cleared slowly. The spirit was looking for them. Loki begun teleporting each member to a safe side of the battle, only to see its arm come at them horizontally. Thor spun Mjolnir, aiming at the arm and threw the weapon. The arm shattered. Running whilst preparing to throw the hammer Thor jumped, flying at the mountain creature's head. Loki yelled at Thor to stop. But Mjolnir's impact hit, the body crumbled, leveling the creature into nothing but pieces and dust. The floor stopped shaking, the fledgling rocks stopped attacking likewise, collapsing into pieces. Thor rose his hammer laughing victoriously.

Fandral grunted, sometime in the mountain's fight, he had broken an arm. Lady Sif returned to inform that the village has successfully escaped. Thor walked back to the group, bragging about his success, and laughing about how terrified Loki looked.

"Thor that was a nature spirit! You should not have done this." Loki striding after his brother's prideful strut.

"Relax brother, I took care of it. We just need to patch up a bit, and return those villagers back to their homes."

"It's not that easy. Killing one small nature spirit is due cause for bad luck, killing an elemental creature is all the more imprudent."

Thor stopped to lightheartedly pat Loki's back, "Not wise? I saved the village! Lighten up, brother-mine."

The floor began to shudder once more, the surrounding boulders beginning to roll. The surrounding mountains and hills of the valley shook free. The trees on the floor lifting themselves up, spriggans walked out of the surrounding forests, and the shattered rocks began to reconnect.

"Can we run from this one Thor?" Volstagg offered while preparing himself for battle once again.

"Never."

But the elementals did not fight, instead forming a wide-ranging circle around them, chanting. The fledglings and spriggans crept closer and quicker, shrieking in the language of their earth. Their combined voices filled all possible sounds around them.

Loki began to chant in response, trying to communicate their apologies and amend peace. The shrieking, humming and crooning of the spirits pierced into their ears. Then nothing. No chanting. No more screaming creatures. No skies either. They were in a darker, murkier place. A swamp.

"Well that was a close call." Hogun announced.

"Why did you teleport us here!? Of all the places in the nine realms, you chose a swamp?" Volstagg complained.

Loki looked at the group, "Hey, don't look at me, I didn't do this. We were undoubtedly linked into a portal, the elementals understandably teleported us."

Hogun began climbing one of the trees to search the area.

Fandral motioned to Loki, gesturing to his arm "I need a bit of help here." Loki trudged through the muddy floor to him, and tried to heal the broken limb, but nothing happened. He attempted to use a few other spells, with no avail. "I can't use magic here. I believe there is an influence to prevent spells in effect. I wish I hadn't agreed to come along, you might have not done the opposite of everything I say, and actually thought for yourselves properly." He began to search for pieces around him to make a splint. "This whole lack of magic would make it a bit tougher to find a way out."

"You didn't agree to come, you just tagged along. Why don't you try to be useful and use a clairvoyance spell, show us a way out?"

Loki cracked off a branch of harder wood from a tree. "Sif, my goodness! You are bright one, aren't you? Why didn't I think about that! Oh wait, I did, but I just said that I can't use magic here, you dim wit." Volstagg chuckled, earning a glare from Sif.

"Loki, be nice." Thor reprimanded.

Sif threw a small stone at Loki's head. "Just do your job."

Thor shouted for Heimdall to teleport them back, but there were no responses. All was quiet except for the hum of nature and Fandral's hisses of pain.

Loki was finishing up with the splint when Hogun shouted down to the group "I am seeing nothing for miles! But I do see a river a far distance away. And the day is approaching sunset."


End file.
